Liberated from an overstocked communal bookshelf at work. Not labelled, so hopefully the previous owner is OK with that! Will be released for the 2006 You're Such an Animal Release Challenge.

RELEASE NOTES:

Released for the 2006 You're Such An Animal Release Challenge

Picked up at today's meetup. Looks a bit chicklit-y for me, but I had to pick up a book called Cat!

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I feel cheated - there weren't any cats in it at all! :-)

If you really like chicklit, or really like cycling, then you might enjoy this book, but otherwise I wouldn't bother. The author had obviously done a lot of research into the sport, and wanted to show off her knowledge, resulting in excruciating dialogue like:

'Look at this road,' Cat remarked. It ribboned out before them, seemingly for miles, straight and mostly flat.
'Meaning?' Josh tested.
...
'Well, a road like this hardly encourages anyone to attack - it would be much ado about nothing. The pack would just watch such a rider peg off. He might manage around 45 kph but the bunch could stream after him at 60.'

And then there's the technique North uses of expressing her characters' inner thoughts through a dialogue between the character and... themself? the author? the narrator? the reader? I'm not sure who they're supposed to be having the conversation with, but it doesn't really work. Perhaps if she'd restrained herself to only using this technique with one character, it might have come across as just an interesting character trait (you could sort of imagine someone thinking something through by having a conversation with themselves), but using it indiscriminantly with random characters at random times just became irritating. It also seems like yet another way for North to show off how much she knows about cycling. E.g. the team doctor can't sleep, wondering whether one of his team is taking banned substances:

I had to check something.
What?
That if Didier wasn't dangling himself from a door frame, he was sleeping soundly.
You're talking about EPO, aren't you?
Yup, erythropoietin.
...
Doesn't EPO simulate the advantages of altitude training on the body?
It's a hormone produced naturally by the kidneys. Administered, it boosts the red blood cell count and increases the amount of oxygen that can be carried in the blood; as the bloodstream can transport more oxygen around the system, endurance is enhanced and aerobic capacity is increased.
...
How fantastic.
It can also turn the blood to jam. A few years ago, there was a spate of riders dying mysteriously in their sleep. Cyclists' superfit hearts can pump at around 190 bpm and then rest as low as 30 bpm. That's when EPO can become lethal. The slower the heartbeat, the thicker the blood, the quicker it begins to clot and the heart begins to stall. That's why I wanted to check if Didier was hanging off a door, stretching out to thin his blood. That's why I needed to listen to his breathing pattern in his sleep.

... and on and on (this particular "inner dialogue" goes on in this same expository fashion for several more pages).

In among the many things that irritated me, there were a few good points. The story moves reasonably fast, the characters are mostly likeable, and a few of the many facts the author shares with us about cycling and the Tour de France were actually quite interesting. And you don't exactly come to this sort of book looking for high literature anyway.

So, readable enough in a light and fluffy sort of way, but I won't be seeking out any of Freya North's other books.

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Given to another bookcrosser at today's meetup.

Picked up from the meetup.

Not sure why I picked this one up - I'll give it a try anyway and might release it somewhere like outside the cycle shop in Greymouth.

One night I had a bit of a look in my TBR bag (Have to find space to put actual bookshelves) for a light read and picked this book out.

Surprisingly I really enjoyed this book though I will agree with FutureCat about the inner-dialogue technique being a bit odd. Took me a little to get used to.

I did find the cycling aspect quite interesting and it was nice that the author had done her research.

Might loan this book to someone at my course, see if she wants to read it. Then I'll release it by the bicycles outside the cycle shop in Greymouth (the actual name of the shop escapes me at the moment)

RELEASE NOTES:

Released outside by the pedal of one of the cycles on display.